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Vito: Wallabies won't be taken lightly

Sportal.co.nz 15 Aug 2012 Getty Images

He may be a relative newcomer to the All Blacks, even with his share of the Rugby World Cup success, but loose forward Victor Vito is well aware of the physical challenge the side meets when playing the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday night.

The Bledisloe Cup was second only to the World Cup so any contest between the two countries was always tough.

"It's going to be a massive challenge. They've been in camp for a little while now so it is going to be massive," Vito said.

"They play the game at a quick rate and that is what at training we try to get on the bounce a bit more at the same time they're a good team and we'll definitely have our work laid out for us on Saturday," he said.

Vito said it was no surprise the Australians were targeting the breakdown area for the Test match.

The breakdown was a crucial area in all games nowadays.

"They've got some good threats over the ball in guys like David Pocock and the rest of them so I would say it is pretty key," he said.

"We're both teams with a lot of talent to unleash out wide but hopefully it is an area we can shore up."

While there was a tendency to look at the record of dominance over Australia in recent times, where the Australians have had only three wins in 19 Tests, Vito said that statistic was important because it demonstrated how seriously New Zealand took the Wallabies.

"Every year we come around to them they are the biggest threat every year so we can't really lay off at any point," he said.